In a press release distributed yesterday, EliteXC announced that it had granted long-term contract extensions to Murilo “Ninja” Rua (who defeated Xavier Foupa-Pokam at Cage Rage last Saturday) and Antonio “Big Foot” Silva, a former super-heavyweight who dropped from 300 pounds to 265 in order to fight (and submit) Jonathan Wiezorek at last month’s “Renegade” event. EliteXC live events prez Gary Shaw seemed particularly confident about Big Foot’s abilities:

“I believe Silva is the No. 1 heavyweight in the world which is why I wanted to make sure he stayed with us. If there is a UFC heavyweight or, for that matter, any heavyweight out there that feels they are the best then lets make a match. We can do the fight in an Octagon, in the EliteXC cage or any venue. I truly believe ‘Big Foot’ will kick any heavyweight’s butt and look forward to giving him the opportunity to do it.’’

Wow…that is rich. I’m not sure who Silva has defeated to be considered “No. 1 heavyweight in the world” — his most notable wins were over Wesley “Cabbage” Correira and Ruben “Warpath” Villareal, both of whom could have been included in Wednesday’s list — but setting aside the utter outlandishness of Gary Shaw’s claim, there’s no reason EliteXC should be looking outside of its ranks for challengers. That’s what you do when all other contenders have been smashed, not when your guy is on a two-fight win streak and Kimbo Slice is sitting on his hands waiting for someone who can remain upright for more than 90 seconds against him. Silva vs. Slice — that’s the announcement that EliteXC should be making now. If Big Foot can win that fight, then maybe he can be mentioned in the same breath as these guys. Until then, he’s just another Silva…